Écarté is an old French casino game for two players that is still played today. It is a trick-taking game, similar to whist, but with a special and eponymous discarding phase; the word écarté meaning "discarded". Écarté was popular in the 19th century, but is now rarely played. It is described as "an elegant two-player derivative of Triomphe [that is] quite fun to play" and a "classic that should be known to all educated card players."

Play

All cards from two to six are removed from a 52-card pack, to produce the Piquet pack of thirty-two cards, which rank from the lowest 7, 8, 9, 10, ace, knave, queen, to king high. Note that the ace ranks between ten and knave, making the king the highest card. The players cut to determine the dealer, who deals five cards each in packets of two and three, or three and two, either to whim or some agreement. The eleventh card is dealt face up to determine the trump suit. If this card is a king, the dealer can immediately mark an extra point for himself. The elder hand (the player opposite the dealer) is then entitled, if that player so desires, to begin the exchange—a crucial part of the game. This involves discarding cards in order to improve their hand with fresh cards from the remaining pack. To make an exchange, the elder hand must make a proposal to the dealer of a specific number of cards. The dealer must then decide whether or not to accept. If the dealer accepts then the elder hand must propose a discard and the dealer should deal the same number of fresh cards from the pack; following which the dealer must then also make an exchange of at least one card. Once cards have been discarded, they are no longer used, nor looked at. If the proposal was accepted, then the elder hand can make another proposal, if desired, and can go on making proposals as long as the dealer accepts them. This process ends and play begins either at the point that the elder hand chooses not to propose, or the dealer refuses to accept, or the stock of remaining cards runs out. The elder hand is under no obligation to make any exchange at all. If no initial proposal is made, the elder hand becomes a vulnerable player, leaving the dealer with a chance of scoring an extra point. The dealer suffers the same liability and becomes vulnerable if he refuses the initial proposal made by the opponent. After the initial proposal, the elder hand can decline to propose further and the dealer can refuse to accept at any point, without either player becoming vulnerable. Before playing the first card, if either player holds the king of trumps, he can mark an extra point for themselves by announcing it. He does not have to do so, but forfeits the right if he forgets to do so before starting play. The play begins with the elder hand leading the initial trick, after which the winner of the previous trick leads the next. If it is possible to follow suit, then the other player must always do so. The trick is won by the highest card in the suit led. If a trump card is played then the highest trump wins the trick. If a player can win the trick then he must do so.

Scoring

Five points wins the game. Play sometimes consist of multiple games as part of a "rubber" or set. Score is often kept with counters or unused cards, similar to Euchre.

Early 20th-century London Rules

The rules of Écarté, as were accepted by the principal clubs in London at the start of the 20th century, and cited in Cavendish, are as follows:

Variations

Pool and French

One of the best known descriptions of Écarté - a treatise by Cavendish written in 1886 that describes the then-current state-of-play in certain London clubs - discusses at least two different variants: Pool Écarté and French Écarté. Pool Écarté is designed for three players, with only two players playing each hand and one observing. The losing player for the hand then swaps places with the observing player, until one of the players wins two games consecutively. In French Écarté, observing bystanders are allowed to place certain wagers on the game, similar to some versions of Baccarat, and are also allowed to provide certain input to the players during the course of the game. (In English Écarté, bystanders were permitted to place bets on a game, but were not permitted to comment or provide input.)

Rubbers

As in other tricking taking games such as Whist, it is common for play to consist of "rubbers" or "sets," where the player who wins the best of three, five, seven, or even eleven games wins the rubber.

Ranks

For a more modern variation of the game, the cards may be re-ranked with the Ace as the highest card and the King as the second highest card, as in most modern card games.

Betting

As an old casino game, betting was originally a central feature of Écarté. While this aspect of the game can be simulated with chips similar to Poker or Napoleon, another mechanic that is occasionally used is to permit players to propose to "double" the point value of the hand then in play. This is functionally similar to raising the bet for the hand, though without the necessity of chips or money. The proposal can be made by either player at any time before the commencement of the third trick (i.e., the mid-point of the hand), and if the other player accepts, the total point value of the hand is doubled for whoever wins (including any points scored due to the vulnerability of one of the players). If the other player declines, however, the hand is immediately concluded (similar to folding in Poker) and the proposing player awarded points as if they had taken a majority of the tricks, but had not taken the vole (i.e., one point in a standard hand, or two points if the player declining to double the value of the hand was vulnerable). This mechanic permits for some additional complex strategies, such as bluffing. A similar variation allows either player to "offer[] the point to the opponent," similar to folding in Poker. If the opponent accepts the offer, the hand is immediately concluded and scored as if the opponent had won "the point" (i.e., three or four out of the five available tricks). If the opponent declines the offer, however, they are "bound to win the vole." If they do so, scoring proceeds as normal, but if the player declining the offer fails to win the vole (i.e., if the player who initially offered to fold takes at least one trick), then the player who made the initial offer scores two points. It is unclear from the sources for this variation whether there is any kind of rule on how late in the hand a player is permitted to make an offer, or whether the offer can be made at any time during the course of a hand. Logic would seem to dictate that the offer must come at least prior to the midpoint of the hand (i.e., the third trick), or the offering player would not be offering anything of value to their opponent. If the offering player had already won one of the first three tricks, for instance, then the opposing player would not be able to win the vole; and if the opposing player had already won three tricks, they would already be entitled to score the point being offered. For these reasons, it may be that "offering the point to the opponent" is only permitted in the phase before play begins.

Bourré

Bourré is sometimes considered a variant of Écarté for more than two players.

In popular culture

Écarté seems to be the card game played by actors in the 1895 Partie de cartes Lumière brothers film. Écarté is mentioned in The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas as being a game the French prefer over others, such as whist. A game of Écarté is played (and described in some detail) by the protagonist in Gaston Leroux's short story "In Letters of Fire", to test a man who claims to have made a deal with the Devil that ensures he can never lose a game. Écarté is also mentioned in Edgar Allan Poe's 1839 story "William Wilson". It is played in chapter 10 of the Sherlock Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles. A game of Écarté also figures prominently in Conan Doyle's The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard, Chapter 3, "How the Brigadier Held the King". It is mentioned in the lyrics of a song from Gilbert and Sullivan's 1889 comic opera The Gondoliers, in which the character of the Duchess of Plaza-Toro sings "At middle class party, I play at Écarté, and I'm by no means a beginner". The game is mentioned in Chapter VI of The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, and in Chapter XII of the same author's Man and Wife. The game is mentioned in Chapter I of Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard by Anatole France. The game is specifically not played in favor of piquet in chapter 5 of Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham In the film The Happiest Days of Your Life, Arnold Billings, played by Richard Wattis, while introducing the new master to the Common Room, says that "Mathews, the Second Master, plays a good hand at Écarté". In Chapter XIII of Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers, the Club plays "écarte" (sic) at Eatanswill. Écarté appears to be the game played by Francis Poldark and Matthew Sanson in Season 1, Episode 5 of the BBC show Poldark, and similarly is played by Ross Poldark and Matthew Sanson in Season 1, Episode 6. Francis loses his mine to Matthew in Episode 5 during a high-stakes game of Écarté, before Ross catches Matthew cheating at Écarté in Episode 6.

Literature